“Thought I was alone in the world, until my memories gathered round me in the night” Jason Isbell sings on ‘What I’ve Done to Help’, the opening track to Reunions. The rolling chorus repeated like a mantra towards the end,…
Long before there was a trilogy of albums on the history of Essex, the 2012 instrumental record inspired by Lidos, an EP of tunes inspired by diesel commuter trains, or Chants for Socialists, Darren Hayman used to specialise in songs…
We live in strange times. No one is more aware of that than Steve Earle. “One of the dangers that we’re in is if people like me keep thinking that everyone who voted for Trump is a racist or an asshole,…
“Every brick you’ve hurled, I’ll use to build the world” The Amazing Devil’s record begins, as all should do, with the wind howling and a low bass reverberation, with Joey Batey and Madeline Hyland’s spoken-word delivery. It then spills directly…
My Girl the River is the project of Louisiana singer and musician Kris Wilkinson Hughes. The band is fleshed out by her husband Joe and daughter Ruby on double bass and harmonies respectively. Cardinal in the Snow is the follow…
A scoundrel of the mundane, Mr. Alec Bowman describes himself in the sleeve notes to this album. He goes on to dedicate it to his grandparents and to those who are struggling to stay alive, amongst others. The album itself,…
“The world’s falling apart – it’s like the apocalypse” spits the accompanying press release to Lucinda Williams’ latest record Good Souls, Better Angels. It sounds like something that could’ve been written about these strange times we’re living through, but it…
“I’ve had my indicator on since leaving Crewe/That explains the gestures in my rear-view,” Brian Christinzio sighs over the doo-wop pop of ‘Born To Cruise’. It’s one of many superbly pithy couplets on his fifth BC Camplight album, Shortly After Takeoff,…
Jesse Tabish hasn’t given up on computers, yet the leader of Other Lives found himself at a crossroads with For Their Love. “Working with computers you can layer parts forever. I’d forgotten how to pick up a guitar and sing…
Ron Sexsmith is a name that needs no introduction to anyone reading these pages. The songwriters’ songwriter proves that that’s an accolade much deserved on Hermitage, his 17th studio album. We are greeted by birds chirping and playful and plaintive piano on…